Software tools for Wyse WinCE based terminals

Bundle Tools

The definitive work on this was done years ago by the people at the WYSE Winterm hacking website who worked out what was what and then produced a general set of tools (bundle-tools) and make-nk to enable Linux kernels to be easily installed into the flash memory of Wyse-based thin clients. Download those tools and read the accompanying documentation.

For those interested there's also a loose specification for the Windows CE nk.bin format on the MSDN website.

fwbuild

I wanted a simple tool to build the bootp.bin files I needed during development of the kernels for the various bits of Wyse and HP hardware in my possession. Whilst it would be possible to wrap a script around the individual programs in bundle-tools to achieve my aims there were differences between the Wyse and Compaq setups e.g. the .ce and .bin files had different names. I was after something that built easily from my basic file set and where there was minimal chance of using the wrong files. Out of this requirement fwbuild was born. It's also been an educational exercise in putting everything together.

NOTE: This will only work with firmware bundles which hold a list of individual files. It will not work with a bundle which holds a file system image (filesys0 etc).

Inputs

The input files you need are:

The binary firmware NETXFER package for your particular Windows CE client. (Download this from the HP or Wyse web sites).
The setup/boot code to get your kernel started. I used the boot.S file that comes with the make-nk package. You need to build the binary image from the source.
An optional splash screen (poweron.bmp) of your own.
An optional initrd should you require it. (2.6 kernels support an integral initfamfs).

You need may need to edit the boot.S file before building it. The two things you might want to edit are:

Output to the serial port - uncomment the 'ret' instruction at the start of ch_out to disable it.
The parameters passed to the kernel.

I debated whether to include these options somehow into fwbuild but to date they are not included.

Usage

fwbuild -f firmwarefile [-b boot] [-k kernel] [-l] [-o outfile] [-v]

where:

-f file specifies the standard NETXFER image file to use.

-b file specifies the file holding the boot code for the nk.bin image. (default is boot)

-k file specifies the file holding the linux kernel to use. (default is bzImage)

-r file specifies the initrd file. (Omitted from nk.bin if not specified)

-l (logo) means use an external poweron.bmp file rather than the bundled one

-o file specifies the name of an output file. (default bootp.bin)

-v for verbose mode. Use twice to get a running commentary. Use it three times to get a list of all the files in the bundle

What it does

fwbuild performs the following actions:

It scans the NETXFER binary file to locate: (i) The file with the BIOS flag set. (ii) The matching file with the .bin extension. (iii) the k file. (iv) the poweron.bmp file.
It takes the specified boot file, the specified linux kernel and the optional initrd file and creates a new nk.bin file.
It copies over the NETXFER code and appends a new bundle of files comprising (i) The BIOS file. (ii) The matching .bin file. (iii) The k file. (iv) The new nk.bin file. (v)The original or a replacement poweron.bmp file.

Download

The source files can be downloaded from here!

Any comments? email me. Last update April 2009

-f file	specifies the standard NETXFER image file to use.
-b file	specifies the file holding the boot code for the nk.bin image. (default is boot)
-k file	specifies the file holding the linux kernel to use. (default is bzImage)
-r file	specifies the initrd file. (Omitted from nk.bin if not specified)
-l	(logo) means use an external poweron.bmp file rather than the bundled one
-o file	specifies the name of an output file. (default bootp.bin)
-v	for verbose mode. Use twice to get a running commentary. Use it three times to get a list of all the files in the bundle

Thin Clients : Tools